The University of Colorado paid $32,500 in a settlement agreement to the woman who sparked a federal investigation into the Boulder campus's handling of her sexual assault.

The settlement agreement, obtained by the Daily Camera under the Colorado Open Records Act, shows that the university and Board of Regents reached an agreement with Sarah Gilchriese in late February.

The settlement does not constitute an admission of liability or fault by the university.

Patrick O'Rourke, the university's chief legal counsel, said he couldn't speak about Gilchriese's settlement specifically because of federal laws that protect students' privacy.

Broadly speaking, universities manage risk like any company, he said.

"Like any large employer or business, the University of Colorado has claims that arise that we need to make intelligent and prudent business decisions about so that we can best provide services to our students, faculty and staff without being involved in litigation," O'Rourke said.

Gilchriese said she was happy with the way the settlement was resolved.

In 2007, the university settled a Title IX lawsuit and paid $2.8 million to Lisa Simpson and another woman who alleged that they were raped at a party attended by CU football players.

Gilchriese hired Boulder law firm Hutchinson Black and Cook, the same firm that represented Simpson and the victim in the case involving Florida State quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston, who was accused of raping a woman last fall.

Gilchriese filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights last year because she believed CU violated Title IX, a federal education law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex.

Her complaint launched a federal investigation into the Boulder campus, the university announced last summer. That investigation is ongoing.

Last week, the Office of Civil Rights made public a list of the 55 universities and colleges being investigated for possible Title IX violations. The list includes CU's Boulder and Denver campuses.

Gilchriese has said publicly that she was sexually assaulted last February. Her assailant, an undergraduate male, was found responsible for non-consensual sexual intercourse by the school's student discipline office.

His punishment included an eight-month suspension, $75 fine and a paper.

Gilchriese said it took four weeks for her assailant to be removed from campus, and during that time he went against an order to have no contact with her several times.

In the end, she sought help in the form of a permanent protection order.

The assailant is not allowed within 100 yards of Gilchriese, the university or her dog Koa, a miniature yellow lab, she said.

Gilchriese, a communications major, is on track to graduate in December of 2015.

She said she went public with her story in the hopes of changing university policies and procedures around sexual assault.

"I hope that with all the publicity about my case and my federal complaint that it creates a community where a lot more survivors feel comfortable coming forward and reporting," she said. "I also went public because I want policies to change for all future survivors so the campus is a lot safer for them and the policies really cater toward the survivors' needs."

The university's Office of Victim Assistance, which has been on the Boulder campus for almost 20 years, offers free and confidential information, counseling, advocacy and support to all students, faculty and staff.

Gilchriese applauded the work of that office, and said the university's Office of Student Conduct can do more to protect victims and punish assailants.

Without the protection order, Gilchriese said her assailant would have been allowed to return to campus at the end of 2013, while she was still enrolled, which made her uncomfortable.

CU system spokesman Ken McConnellogue said the university is committed to complying with and exceeding Title IX requirements.

The Boulder campus is in the process of hiring a Title IX coordinator, which was one of the recommendations of an external review the university commissioned last summer. That review found the Boulder campus to be compliant with federal law.

The university is also studying the White House recommendations released last month about how colleges and university can better prevent and respond to sexual assaults on campus.

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